Essay and Vision Board Introduction
What is the Essay/Vision Board competition SECME’s essay/vision board
competition is a written and illustrative representation (vision board)
on any of the three topics listed below. All essay/vision board
submissions will require a cover page.
Topics
How has participation in SECME helped me to discover my STEM
dream job?
How has the COVID-19 pandemic shown the importance of
STEM?
Environmental issues
- Forest Fires
- Global Warming
Topics are open to all grade levels; however, some topics may require
more critical thinking, explanations, and details, depending on the
grade level.
When choosing topics 2 or 3, answer the questions:
A. How does or how should STEM impact these global or environmental
issues?
B. How do you see yourself contributing to the solution to these
global or environmental issues? We encourage you to use your
imagination.
Competition Requirements
Follow all instructions. Each essay and vision board entry must be
prepared and submitted by an individual SECME student.
When choosing topics 2 or 3, answer the questions:
A. How does or how should STEM impact these global or environmental
issues?
B. How do you see yourself contributing to the solution to these
global or environmental issues? We encourage you to use your
imagination.
The vision board can be developed by hand or by using a computer
program. For boards created by hand, teams can use materials such as
magazine clippings, newspaper clippings, crayons, markers, colored
pencils, colored pens, or paint. Clip art or electronic visual graphics
are allowed when designing on a computer. Your vision board must be one
page, and it can either be positioned in portrait or landscape.
Grades Pre-K – 2
Choose a topic. Create your vision board on paper. Next, working with
your SECME Coordinator or parent/guardian, record a four-minute maximum
video message explaining your vision board and how participation in
SECME has helped you to choose that career path.
Submission of your vision board must include the following:
- Required cover page
- Vision Board drawing is one page in length and can be positioned
either in portrait or landscape
- Four-minute (max) video explaining your vision board
If you choose Topic 1, you simply will draw on your vision board what
job in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) you
would like to have when you grow up.
Grades 3 – 5
Choose a topic. Write your essay. Create your vision board to show
what your essay represents. Write a paragraph or two describing your
vision board.
Writing is critical, but it is a learned skill, and some students
perfect it sooner than others. As an optional addition to writing, you
may record a four-minute video explaining your vision board!
Submission of the essay/vision board must include the following:
- Required cover page
- The essay should contain 500 – 1,000 words
- Write a one-paragraph description of your vision board (note that
your description should be included in your essay, not on the vision
board page)
- Vision Board drawing is one page in length and can be positioned
either in portrait or landscape
- Four-minute (max) video explaining your vision board (optional)
If you choose Topic 1, you will write an essay containing 500-1,000
words describing what STEM Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics job you would like and how participation in SECME helped you
choose that career path.
Phases
Phase 1: Interest
Inventory
Phase 2: Career
Search
Phase 3: Education
Research
Phase 4: Essay
Phase 5: Vision
Board
Optional: Video explanation of your vision board
(two to four minutes)
Phase 1: Interest Inventory
It’s all about YOU! and Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics Topic 1: How has participation in SECME helped me to
discover my STEM dream job? What STEMulates your
imagination? What SECME experiences are interesting, enjoyable, and fun?
Do you enjoy working with a team in SECME to build mousetrap cars, balsa
wood bridges, and water bottle rockets in SECME? Do you enjoy creating a
technical drawing that shows the design of your mousetrap car or water
bottle rocket used in a SECME competition? What other activities do you
work on in your SECME class or club? Do you like coding? Do you like
solar energy? Do you like the challenge of figuring out ways to build a
“better” car or bridge or water bottle rocket in SECME? Do you like
researching exciting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
topics? Do you like to plan big projects?
Ask yourself: How has participation in SECME helped me? How has my
involvement in SECME helped me to grasp the challenging concepts of
STEM?
Get out your journal and answer these questions for yourself.
Take your time, do not worry about going fast. Search your memories and
write down your thoughts.
Now, talk to your friends, teachers, and relatives – ask them
what they think YOU enjoy and write down their answers in your journal
(you might be surprised by what they say!).
Have they observed how your SECME experience has helped
you?
Then do some Internet research. Below are some interesting links,
but you are not limited to just these! Ask your teacher to help you find
other sites to visit.
Take your time and have fun! Do not forget to use your journal to
write down information – use as many pages as you want. You never know
what you might need for the next phases of your exploration. Explore
these other websites to help you get started.
Links to Explore
http://www.discovere.org/discover-engineering http://www.greatachievements.org/
http://stemcareer.com/ http://www.onetonline.org/find/stem?t=0
http://www.wisegeek.com/science.htm
Phase 2: Career Search
Topic 1: How has participation in SECME helped me to discover my STEM
dream job?
On this next leg of your exploration, it’s time to find out what
career just might be for you! Let yourself be surprised by what you
might find. It could be something that you never knew was a job. The
links below are just the beginning. Ask for help to find other good
internet sites. And do not forget to use your journal to log all the
places you will go! You never know when you might want to check your
journal as you move through the next phases of your journey.
First, visit the SECME Website (www.secme.org). On the green menu
bar across the top, hover your mouse over “More” and click on
“Government & Industry Partners.” When you click on this link, you
will see the seven (7) corporations that are major SECME sponsors. Click
on each one to visit their websites – have fun looking at all the cool
things they do!
Plan to take a few days for this next step in your exploration:
Go back to the green menu bar at the top of the website and hover your
mouse over “More.” This time, click on “Other Alliance Partnerships.”
There are many industries and government agencies that help to support
your SECME program in many ways. Find a familiar one, click on its link,
and explore its website. Then find one you have never heard of before
and explore it, too. Take a few days to explore all the links. You will
be STEMulated by all the opportunities and information just waiting to
be discovered!
Now that you have new information about many different industries
and government agencies. Visit some websites that tell you about other
careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. There are
several listed below you can go to, but don’t stop there! Get some help
to find other information. And, of course, don’t forget to use your
journal to record all the interesting information you discover!
Links to Explore
http://www.aboriginalaccess.ca/adults/types-of-engineering
http://www.egfi-k12.org/
http://www.egfi-k12.org/#/cards/mechanical http://www.egfi-k12.org/#/cards/computer
http://teachers.egfi-k12.org/resource-engineering-scholarships/
http://www.stem-works.com/ http://www.coolmath.com/careers.htm
http://www.ams.org/ams/what-mathdegree.pdf http://www.maa.org/careers/
http://www.pbs.org/safarchive/5_cool/53_career.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0113274/index.htm
Phase 3: Education Research
Fun Facts about SECME and its University Partners
Topic 1: How has participation in SECME helped me to discover my STEM
dream job?
Your journal should be full of information now.
Look back at your notes from Phase 1 and Phase 2 of your exploration.
Do you have some ideas about what you like to do and about careers that
just might be fun for you to pursue? SO, NOW WHAT? Time to explore how
to get prepared for a STEM career! HOW? You need to consider what kind
of education you will need. In this phase of your journey, you will
visit universities across the country. Prepare to be surprised about how
different they are! Take careful notes in your journal.
It’s back to the SECME Website (www.secme.org) homepage link. Hover
your mouse over “More” and select “Member Universities.” Suppose you
click the “Founding Universities” button in the upper right. In that
case, you find the names of the six Deans and their universities that
first met in 1975 to create SECME to encourage students like you to go
to college and get degrees to lead to STEM careers. That was 46 years
ago! Can you imagine how many SECME students have been through the SECME
program over the past 46 years because these Founders of SECME wanted
kids to explore STEM careers?
Now go back to one page to see the “SECME University Council
Member Institutions.” You will find a listing of universities with
engineering programs supporting SECME! These university engineering
programs are just waiting for you to get to know them!
Get a map of the United States and explore different universities
online. Find their locations on the map. What university is closest to
you? What university is the farthest away?
Most university engineering programs have interesting information
and fun summer programs. Explore the sites and see what you can
find!
Which university engineering schools look like places you could
see yourself in the future?
5.Which university majors and degrees might you pursue to achieve
your career goals in STEM?
There are tons of information at your fingertips – Enjoy! Don’t
forget to take good notes! You’re almost ready to start your essay!
Phase 4: Essay
Topic 1: How has participation in SECME helped me to discover my STEM
dream job?
You’ve done a lot of work. Time to put it all together and use your
new knowledge to persuade the SECME Essay Competition judges that you
have figured out your destination!
In Phase 4, you will need to be diligent. You’ve gathered a good bit
of research, and now you need to decide how you can use it. The
competition judges want you to help them understand:
What STEMulates your mind in Science, Technology, Engineering,
and Mathematics?
What has your research shown you? Is it possible you have found
the career you want to pursue?
What has your research shown you? Is it possible you have found
the university or college you will attend?
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that this phase of your journey
will be easy. You will want to take your time and write several drafts
before submitting your work to your SECME Coordinator.
It’s ok to ask for help after you write your drafts. However, YOU
need to ensure that your essay is in YOUR words! The judges want to feel
like YOU are talking to them, not a parent, teacher, or friend…YOU!
Others can ensure that your final copy is correct, without errors,
but they should NOT express your feelings for you – they are YOUR ideas
and reactions to what you have discovered during your exploration. And
don’t forget to let the judges know if you were surprised by any
information you found in your research – they would be interested to
learn that your journey was a success. A successful personal exploration
will be when you learn something about yourself – about what gets you
excited and ready to go for your goals. Be sure to share something that
you did NOT know before you started!!
So, it’s time to think, write, re-write, edit, and then move on to
Phase 5!
Phase 5: Vision Board
Topic 1: How has participation in SECME helped me to discover my STEM
dream job?
This vision board is a visualization of your future STEM career.
Using art, create a vision board that depicts your future career path
and expresses your hopes and dreams in Science, Technology, Engineering,
and Mathematics.
SECME students can use clip art, electronic visual graphics, magazine
clippings, newspaper clippings, crayons, markers, colored pencils,
colored pens, and paint.
Grades Pre-K-2 are required to submit a video
explanation of their vision board no longer than 4 minutes.
Grades 3-12 are required to submit a one-paragraph
description of their vision board. They can submit an optional video
explanation of their vision board no longer than 4 minutes.
SECME students put their vision board on an 8.5” × 11” white paper.
The page layout (or the paper orientation) can be either landscape or
portrait.
The Vision Board will be judged on the following criteria:
Paper Size Requirement (8.5” × 11”)
Harmony between the essay and vision board
Appearance, Effort, Creativity, Originality
Video explanation of the Vision Board (Pre-K-2 grades)
One paragraph explanation of the Vision Board (3-12
grades)